Learning to Fly
by FujikoIzu
Summary: Number 49 is fed up of just being one of Itachi's crows. He wants his own life and so decides to leave Konoha forever. What, or who will he find on his way? You've had boy x boy and girl x girl...now you have BIRD x BIRD! RATED A FOR AWESOME


**This is the most serious fanfiction that I have ever written, or will ever write. I really put a lot of effort into this, so I hope that you love it as much as I do. This is pretty much my only OTP in Naruto, so I am taking this super seriously and I hope that even if you don't feel the same way, you respect my OTP and how passionately I ship them :D**

**Enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

A brilliant cerulean haze covered the horizon, its sunlit hues peppered softly with curly wisps of white. A light breeze blew across the top of the trees, the kind of light breeze that only appears in the most wonderful days of midsummer. It was the perfect day to run, to jump, to skip, to sit and bathe in the sunshine. Nobody in the Land of Fire could deny that it was a beautiful time to be alive, a time so beautiful that the scars of war across the land had all but faded.

As the wind rustled faithfully through the branches of the trees, blowing smoothly and gently almost as if it were completely artificial, there was a certain feeling of freedom among its citizens. Perhaps it was the heat of the midday sun, perhaps it was the welcome scent of freshly cut grass hanging softly in the air. Perhaps it was caused by something else entirely, but there was no doubt what it felt like. It was almost a leftover from the usual spring fling feeling that left everyone's minds in the state of flux, a sort of itching in everyone's feet, the kind of desire that slowly tickled at you for days until you finally gave in. It was the start of the long summer of rebellion, the start of the summer that changed the life of one sole being forever.

In a small tree overhanging the river that flew through Konohagakure, a restless rustling could be heard. It was the kind of restlessness that indicated that someone was about to fly the nest, to finally soar towards the infinite free sky. The sunlight was just right and the wind was just strong enough - there was no doubt that it was time. Finally, after years and years of living in close quarters, it was time to break free and spread wide the wings of freedom.

Of course, this all came naturally to number 49. He was, after all, a bird.

_Damn those other crows! _Number 49 decided, ruffling his inky black feathers indignantly_. They're always up in my feathers, sticking their beaks into everything... _he grumbled, his beady black eye sliding angrily to the side. _Well, I've had enough! I'm getting out of_ here!

Number 49 was the youngest of Itachi's crow family. Contrary to popular belief, his crows were not actually genjutsu. Itachi was, in fact, a crow breeder of some repute and had made rather a lot of extra money selling crows to Ichiraku ramen so that they could save some money on Naruto's infinite tab. It wasn't as if Naruto could tell the difference, anyway. Most of the other crows had no idea about any of this and were happy fighting over scraps but number 49 was different. He knew the truth, he knew what was likely to happen to him if he stayed and he had had enough. He was leaving and he was leaving right now.

_Here I go! _he squawked, taking a few last hops towards the end of the branch that led to his future. _It's about damn time!_

Blinking in the sunlight, 49 closed his eyes and leapt impatiently off the end of the branch. The crisp, cool breeze coursing along the top of his wings was exactly what he had been waiting for all this time. The feeling of freedom, the soaring, whooshing feeling as he left everyone far behind him was nothing short of majestical. He was quite literally as free as a bird now.

_And this bird you cannot change..._ 49 sang to himself as he floated serenely across the daylit sky, taking deep breaths from his beak. Ah, to finally fly freely. It was just as he'd imagined. Of course, there was always the risk of a kunai flying out of the forest suddenly and impaling him, leaving him dead as a dodo, but he was willing to take that risk. After all, not having to share your worms with anyone was more than worth it.

As he flew further and further into the dizzying horizon, 49 found himself beginning to reach a state of birdvana, which in case you didn't know is the bird version of nirvana. This is not to be confused with the band Birdvana, which are famous for hits such as Smells Like Bird Shit, Egg-Shaped Box and Territorial Shittings. Birdvana in this case refers to a state of extreme peace which is achieved through hours of flying aimlessly - a euphoric, half-distant state that 49 had been keen to be able to reach for some time without the use of recreational seeds.

_La la la... _he thought as he flew around aimlessly, not noticing that he had in fact been going in circles around the same tree for the past half hour. Suddenly, 49 felt himself hit into something. Blinking, he fell slightly before stabilising himself and shaking his head, his state of birdvana completely disturbed.

''Watch where you're flying, bird brain!'' squawked a voice from up above. An unusually large and menacing shadow loomed over 49, blocking out the beautiful sun with its horrendous black shape. Frowning (mentally, because he was a bird), 49 decided to fly up to see what all the fuss was about. Just who did that big ass bird think he was, calling one of Itachi's specially bred crows a bird brain? Didn't he know that they were specifically infused with Uchiha chakra for increased intelligence and emo capabilities?

Just as he was about to give that self-important asshole a piece of his mind, 49 found himself stopping mid-flight, hovering in the air and flapping his wings only just quickly enough to stay airborne. Of all of the things that he had to run into today, he hadn't been expecting _this_.

Opposite him was a large, imposing hawk, with the most _gorgeous _plumage he'd ever laid eyes upon. On the hawk's head laid beautiful brown feathers, glossy and sparkling, with a shine the likes of which 49 had never seen before. The feathers shone in the sun, tousled just a little by a while of flying, and 49 could have sworn he saw droplets of sweat cascading off of the hawk's brow, falling like twinkling droplets of sunshine to the earth below, seeming to bless the ground below it. 49 imagined that beneath him, flowers bloomed abundantly, as if they were in one of those Shoujo comics the female humans were always reading. The hawk's dark, mysterious eyes narrowed, shadowed slightly by the plumage that lay invitingly on his prominent brows as they sparkled in the sun, the light reflecting off of them to reveal the true colours of those onyx pools. The very sight of them made 49 feel extremely embarrassed for staring at him for so long.

''What do you want?'' the haughty hawk snarled, turning his beak up in a rather snooty manner.

''I-I...'' 49 stammered, looking away and blushing horrendously. ''I'm sorry for flying in your path, Taka-san!''

_I'm sorry for...ugh, I'm so pathetic! _49 grimaced, shaking his head. Tears formed in his eyes as he flew away, angry at himself for missing his one chance with such a fine specimen. There was no way that he would see a bird that magnificent, with wings that wide and sparkling, ever again in his lifetime. No, in a hundred lifetimes. He'd been away for one day and he'd already completely messed things up with another bird. By the looks of it, this one was very influential too. What if the other birds began to talk about him because of it? He couldn't stand the sound of all that gossipy chirping. It was bad enough back in Konoha with his brothers - and it was even worse when it was birds that he didn't even know. Ugh. He was so embarrassed.

''Wait!'' the booming voice of the hawk screeched, its low rumble echoing firmly across the sky.

49 turned around, blinking in surprise. What did the hawk want? Oh no. Was he going to get bird-slapped? He was hoping that he would have taken his misdirected flight and their collision as water off a duck's back, but perhaps that was not the case.

''Are you lost?'' the hawk said kindly and imperiously, craning down to face 49 as he glided down in front of the crow, blocking his path in a single swoop. 49 couldn't believe it. Even after stammering and blushing like a little chick, the hawk was still interested in speaking to him.

''N-No...I mean, uh...sort of...'' 49 stammered, his usually squawky voice raising slightly in pitch as the hawk sparkled distractingly in front of him like an out of control glitterball. Damn. Why couldn't he get the words out? What was wrong with him?

''Hmm,'' the hawk sneered, floating upwards and flapping his wings. ''You'd better come with me, Miss.''

Rather taken aback, 49 shot up and flapped his wings in frustration. Blushing indignantly, he fixed the hawk with a flustered stare. ''I'm not a girl!''

Letting out a low crowing whistle, the hawk raised his feathery brows. ''Sorry. We're birds. It's kind of hard to tell.''

''It's alright. Even I get confused sometimes...'' 49 sighed, shrugging his wings. ''My name's 49. What's yours?''

''Takamaru,'' he replied, letting the name roll off his beak as if it meant nothing to him at all. ''What kind of a name is 49?''

''Uchiha-san wasn't very good at names...'' 49 sighed, hovering awkwardly beside Takamaru. ''I like to call myself Dango.''

With that admission, the great, majestic hawk burst into fits of laughter. ''Hey! That's not supposed to be funny!'' 49 said, doing what he liked to call his lame duck face.

''Dango...honestly...'' Takamaru cawed, shaking his head. ''You're funny, Dango-kun. I like you.''

49 blushed and turned his head away, not really enjoying the fact that the hawk was making fun of him. Sniggering, Takamaru flew straight in front of his face and started to fly impatient circles around him.

''Cut it out!'' 49 insisted, swirling his head from this way to that until he was so dizzy that he completely lost balance. Tumbling through the air, he tried to right himself. However, as he got closer and closer to the trees below, it was becoming abundantly clear to him that he was going to end up crashing rather unceremoniously into the middle of a tree. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the impact.

However, instead of landing in a mess of scratchy leaves and pointed twigs, he found himself smacking into something a little softer and rather more feathery. The wind was faster here, whirling and swirling so quickly around him that he almost couldn't catch his breath.

''Come on, Dango-kun,'' Takamaru grinned from underneath him. ''You look like you could use a good time. I know a good place.''

''Wha...?'' 49 gasped as his eyes sprung open, only just noticing where he had landed. He couldn't believe it. Was he dreaming? Did Takamaru really dive in and save him? They had only just met!

''You're paying,'' the hawk sniggered, waiting patiently as 49 unfurled himself and rolled off to the side. Did the hawk just tell him that he was paying? For such a good looking bird, Takamaru was definitely an asshole. Of course, 49 wasn't going to stand for this. He was going to give him a piece of his mind!

''Hey!'' 49 screeched, frowning deeply. ''What makes you think that I'm going to pay for you? You teased me about my name and flew in circles around me until I got confused and nearly fell into a tree!''

''Yeah...'' Takamaru snorted, ''...but I _did _save your ass from falling into that tree!''

Grumbling, 49 looked away. ''You still started it.''

Grinning, Takamaru flew in front of 49, blocking his path. Leaning downwards, he put his face so close to 49's that their beaks were almost touching. 49's heart began to race, its pace quickening and quickening until it was almost a constant note thudding in his chest. He felt hot all over, as if he'd been plucked and roasted like a chicken. He'd never felt this way before about any bird. What was this feeling?

''And I'll finish it too...'' the hawk grinned, his beak glinting in the sunlight. Breathing deeply, 49 backed away, his feathery face so red and flustered that it resembled a burning tomato...or at least it would have done if his feathers weren't covering it up.

''F-Fine...'' he stuttered, turning his nose up at the haughty hawk. ''I'll go with you...''

''That's the spirit!'' the hawk squawked, revving up his wings for a seriously fast flight. ''Catch me if you can!''

''That's not fair!'' 49 complained as he raced after the hawk, flapping his tiny crow wings with all his might. ''Hey, come back!''

49 had no clue what lay ahead at this point - and he didn't care one bit. All that he could think about lay right there in front of him, gleaming golden-brown in the hot sun. He would eventually come to identify those things that he felt when Takamaru was nearby, but not for some time yet. There were many, many beautiful days and nights that were yet to come, days that he would never forget for the rest of his life. Today, as it turned out, was just the start.

The start of something beautiful.

The start of an amazing birdlationship.

* * *

**THANK YOU FOR READING THIS YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD I LAUGHED WHILE WRITING THIS!**

Can I just say that you all got trolled? Pahahahahahah! Also, I hope you all ship Bird x Bird now and spread the...um...bird...love...throughout the fandom!

**I'll write proper stuff soon, I promise 3**

**IF THIS MADE YOU LAUGH PLEASE SHARE IT **

**BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THE BIRD IS THE WORD.**


End file.
